Flash lamp unit

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a flash lamp unit having a number of percussion flash lamps arranged on a base plate, which base plate comprises a central pin which extends transversely to the plane of the base plate and at the free end of which remote from the base plate a number of springs are secured.

United States Patent Van Der Laan Nov. 11, 1975 FLASH LAMP UNIT [56]References Cited lnventor: Jan Van Der Laan, Lagos. Nigeria UN STA SATEN S l 3.537.805 ll/l970 Michatek 43 l/93 Asslgnee' 32k Corporauon3.589.849 6/1971 Sturm et al. 431/93 Filedi 1974 PrimaryEruminer-Carroll B. Dority, Jr.

APPL NO: 455,225 Attorney. Agent, oi Firm-Frank R. Trifari [57] ABSTRACTForei n A Iication Prioritv Data g pp The invention relates to a flashlamp unit having at Apr. 24. 1973 Netherlands 4. 7305669 number ofpercussion flash lamps aHanged on a base plate. which base platecomprises a central pin which 2 extends transversely to the plane of thebase plate and Field of Search 431/9204; the free end wh'ch remote thebase pm a 140/1 354/143 number of springs are secured.

6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures US. Patent Nov. 11, 1975 3,918,882

F lg. 3 25 I 16 17 I Fig.2 Fig.4

FLASH LAMP UNIT The invention relates to a flash lamp unit which can becoupled to a camera so as to be rotatable and which comprises a baseplate and a number of percussion flash lamps arranged on said baseplate, which flash lamp unit comprises a number of springs correspondingto the number ofthe flash lamps and of each of which a connection partis locked relative to the base plate, of which a second part extendsmainly transversely to the plane of the base plate, and of which a thirdpart is designed to percuss against a metal tube occurring on each ofthe flash lamps, said tube comprising an ignition mass and an anvil.Such a flash lamp unit is known.

The springs occurring in said known flashlampunit are formed from ametal wire which is bent mainly in the form of a U and which extendstransversely tothe plane of the base plate. One free end of the U-shapedwire comprises a bent end portion with which the metal wire is locked inthe base plate, the stretched portion of the spring designed tocooperate with a flash lamp occurring at the other free end of theU-shaped metal wire.

The drawback of this spring construction is the complicated shape of thespring as aresult of which during the manufacture of I the flash lampunit the mounting of the springs is a laborious and time-consumingoperation.

A further drawback of this known spring construction is that theconnection parts of the springs have to be embedded in the material ofthe base plate, during which operation the material of the baseplate'should be locally heated. This operation constitutes a possibilityof stagnation during the production process. Moreover, the springs maybe embedded in'a wrongposition in the material of the base plate so thatthe ready functioning of the springs is impeded.

It is an object of the invention to provide a flash lamp unit which doesnot exhibit the said drawbacks.

For that purpose, the flashlamp unit according to the invention ischaracterized in that on the .center of the base plate a pin is presentwhich extends transversely to the plane of the base plate and to thefree end of which the connection part of each of the springs is secured.By using a base plate having a pin at the free end of which the springsare secured, springs of a very simple shape may be used, while thelocking of the springs to the pin is an operation which can suitably bemechanized.

The springs are preferably coupled in pairs by a common connection part.As a result of this the advantage is achieved that during assembly ofthe unit which comprises, for example, four lamps, not four separatesprings are to be treated but only two mainly U-shaped springconstellations. Due to their U-shape said spring constellation can bevery readily handled.

A favourable embodiment of the flashlamp unit according to the inventionis characterized in that the end face of the free end of the pin remotefrom the base plate comprises two slots in which the connection parts ofthe springs are clamped. The connection of the connection parts in theslots may be a snap connection in which an extra lock can be obtained bychoosing the length of the pin to be so that the end face of the pinsupports against the inside of a light-permeable cap forming part of theunit, which cap surrounds the flash lamps and is secured to thecircumference of the base plate. Preferably, however, the springs areclamped against the side walls-of the pin in a place between the endface of the pin and the base plate by means of a clamping ring whichsurrounds the pin and the springs and which'is adjustable in thelongitudinal direction of the pin. The adjustability of the clampingring in the longitudinal direction of the pin provides the advantagethat the pretension in the springs and hence the percussion force canalso be adjusted with it.

"A favourable embodiment of the flash lamp unit according to theinvention is characterized in that the springs which are destined tocooperate with two oppositely located flashlamps are coupled by a commonconnection part, the slots in the end face of the pin extendingcross-wise. As a result of this a flash lamp unit having very-simple,mainly U-shaped spring constellajuxtaposed flash lamps are coupled by acommon connection part, the slots having a curved shape. This embodimentprovides the advantage that the shape and dimensions of the springconstellations are the same.

The invention will "be described in greater detail with reference to thedrawing of an embodiment of the flash lampunit, in which FIG. 1* showsthe base plate, the springs and the clamping ring of a flash lamp unithaving four flash lamps in the assembled condition,

' FIG. 2 shows one of the spring constellationsof FIG.

FIG. 3 shows the end face of the pin according to another embodiment ofthe flash lamp unit, and

FIG. 4 shows the spring constellations which are suitable for use in theembodiment shown in FIG. 3.

On the base plate 1 of the flash lamp unit according to the inventionshown in FIG. 1 four flash lamps 2 are arranged of which only one isshown. For that purpose the base plate comprises four recesses 3 inwhich a metal tube 4 fits which occurs on each of the percussion flashlamps. An anvil and an ignition mass are arranged in said metal tube,said mass exploding by a percussion against the metal tube so that theignition of the combustion material in the flash lamp is produced.

A pin 5 which extends transversely to the plane of the base plate ispresent on the center of the base plate 1. At the free end 6 of the pin5 two spring constellations 7 and 8 are secured. As is also shown inFIG. 2, each spring constellation is formed from two springs 9 and 10manufactured from one piece of metal wire and coupled by a commonconnection part 11. This connection part is clamped in one of the slots12 and 13 which occur in the end face of the free end 6 of the pin. Inthe embodiment shown in FIG. 1 said slots extend crosswise. Each springconstellation comprises a common connection part 11, two parts 14 and 15extending along the sides of the pin and two parts 16 and 17 extendingparallel to the plane of the base plate. The parts 16 and 17 aredestined to percuss against the metal tube of one of the percussionflash lamps. For that purpose, said parts 16 and 17 are each locked in apretensioned condition by a locking member 18 (see FIG. 1). Theunlocking of a spring is carried out by means of a percussion memberconnected to the shutter mechanism of a camera, which member penetratesinto the flash lamp unit via one of the apertures 19 and lifts one ofthe parts 16 or 17 over the associated locking member 18. When once itis unlocked, the part 16 or 17 is moved in the direction of the arrow Pby the spring action and percusses against the metal tube of the flashlamp. it is obvious that the length of the parts 14 and of one springconstellation is larger than that of the other spring constellationbecause in the end face of the pin one lies over the other. Thedifference in length corresponds to the thickness of the springmaterial.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 the springs are clamped against thesidewall of the pin by a ring 20. This ring is adjustable in thelongitudinal direction of the pin so that the pretension in the springsis controllable.

The end face 21 of a pin shown in FIG. 3 and occurring in anotherembodiment of the flash lamp unit according to the invention comprisestwo slots 22 and 23 which have a curved shape. The associated springconstellations 24 and 25, respectively, shown in FIG. 4 have commonconnection parts 26 and 27, respectively, the shapes of which correspondto the shapes of the slots 22 and 23. The advantage of the springconstellations thus formed is that one type of spring constellation willsuffice per flash lamp unit. The connection of said springconstellations to the pins occurs preferably by means of a clampingring.

Although in the embodiments described spring constellations were alwaysshown which each consist of two springs coupled by a common connectionpart, four separate springs may also be used which are each clamped in aslot in the end face of the pin by means of a connection part. Theconnection of the springs or spring constellations in the slots mayfurthermore be a 4 clamping connection, in which the connection parts inthe slots are locked by the inside of the screening cap which surroundsthe flash lamps and whose edge is connected to the edge of the baseplate.

What is claimed is:

l. A flash lamp unit for cooperation with an associated camera, saidunit including a base plate and a striker carried thereon, said strikerincluding at least one pair of radially extending arms disposed in acommon plane, an upstanding elongated member having one end fixed to theaxial extremity of each arm which is closest to the other arm of saidpair, a connection member joining the other ends of said upstandingelongated members fixed to said pair of radially extending arms, andmeans for holding each of said elongated members in fixed relation withrespect to said base plate, said means including an upstanding pin andmeans attaching said elongated members to said pin.

2. The apparatus as described in claim 1 wherein said means includes aslot disposed in said pin for cooperation with said connection member.

3. The apparatus as described in claim 2 further including at least onemore slot disposed in said pin and at least one more striker carried insaid slot.

4. The apparatus as described in claim 3 further including a clampingring dimensioned and configured for snug fitting engagement about saidpin and said strikers to clamp said strikers against the sides of saidpm.

5. A flash lamp unit as described in claim 4 wherein said slots extendtransversely to each other.

6. A flash lamp unit as described in claim 5 wherein said slots havecurvilinear shape and are disposed at discrete angular locations so asnot to intercept.

1. A flash lamp unit for cooperation with an associated camera, saidunit including a base plate and a striker carried thereon, said strikerincluding at least one pair of radially extending arms disposed in acommon plane, an upstanding elongated member having one end fixed to theaxial extremity of each arm which is closest to the other arm of saidpair, a connection member joining the other ends of said upstandingelongated members fixed to said pair of radially extending arms, andmeans for holding each of said elongated members in fixed relation withrespect to said base plate, said means including an upstanding pin andmeans attaching said elongated members to said pin.
 2. The apparatus asdescribed in claim 1 wherein said means includes a slot disposed in saidpin for cooperation with said connection member.
 3. The apparatus asdescribed in claim 2 further including at least one more slot disposedin said pin and at least one more striker carried in said slot.
 4. Theapparatus as described in claim 3 further including a clamping ringdimensioned and configured for snug fitting engagement about said pinand said strikers to clamp said strikers against the sides of said pin.5. A flash lamp unit as described in claim 4 wherein said slots extendtransversely to each other.
 6. A flash lamp unit as described in claim 5wherein said slots have curvilinear shape and are disposed at discreteangular locations so as not to intercept.